eBay, the online shop, is to open its first UK shop, in the latest sign that
internet retailers are moving onto the high street.

The eBay shop will only be a five-day experiment, but follows similar schemes run by Amazon, House of Fraser and even Marks & Spencer to encourage their internet shoppers to visit real shops.

The shop on Dean Street, just off Oxford Street, will open during the busiest period for online shopping: December 1 to December 5.

However, the shop will have no tills and only a very limited selection of products, none of which shoppers can take away with them. Instead, 200 of the bestselling items such as a party dress from House of Fraser or an inflatable ride-in Dalek toy will be on display for customers to inspect. If they want to buy it, they can then use their smart phones to scan in a so-called QR code on the ticket. This is a bit like a bar code, which will automatically take the customer into the payment section of the eBay website on their phone.

There will also be a separate area of the shop with eight tablet computers, with the full assortment of eBay's 200m products, if people just want to browse and buy from the internet.

QR codes are being increasingly used by retailers, with Tesco experimenting in South Korea, allowing commuters to scan in QR codes printed on posters at a train station to buy their groceries.

The strategy of online retailers entering the high street is becoming popular in the retail sector and is known as 'multichannel'. It has proved a runaway hit for the likes of Next, which encourages shoppers who buy goods online to visit stores to pick up their clothes. This saves the company distribution costs but allows customers to try on the clothes and means they don't have to wait in to receive a delivery.

Last month House of Fraser opened a shop in Aberdeen, which had no products, but just an array of computers, free coffee and some shop assistants to help customers buy from their website.

Some industry insiders have dismissed these shops as gimmicks, saying it makes no sense for customers to shop over the internet from a high street, when they could do it from the comfort of their own home. However, others have pointed out that they are good-quality marketing for the retailers and – with the help of shop assistants – they are likely to spend more, and be educated how to make the most from websites.